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Police release witness accounts of Vegas Strip shooting

LAS VEGAS- Police in Las Vegas released 1,200 pages of police reports on Wednesday containing witness statements and policeman accounts of last year’s mass shooting that killed 58 people and injured hundreds in the deadliest event of its kind in modern U.S. history.

The release of the documents came more than seven months after gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire Oct. 1 from a casino high-rise into a concert crowd of 22,000 people at an open-air venue on the Las Vegas Strip.

Courts ordered the release of the documents after a public records lawsuit was filed by The Associated Press and several other media organizations. Some names in the released documents were blacked out.

The department two weeks ago made public video from two officers’ body cameras depicting police explosion through the door of the 32 nd-floor hotel suite where authorities tell gunman Paddock killed himself before officers arrived.

Paddock is insured motionless on his back with a pool of blood staining the carpet near his head and a cache of assault-style weapons strewn about.

Police and the FBI have said they don’t know a motive for the attack, but believe Paddock acted alone and the attack had no link to international terrorism.

Media outlets sued to obtain videos, 911 recordings, proof logs and interview reports to shed light on the response by public bureaux, emergency workers and hotel officials during and after the shooting.

The department has not all the materials it compiled.

Department lawyers who opposed releasing the information called the public records request costly and time-consuming, and said it could disclose investigative techniques.

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said early this month the police investigation was not finished, and pointedly apologized for the release of information that he said would “further traumatize a wounded community.”

Sgt. Jeff Clark, a department spokesman, told authorities would not comment about the documents released Wednesday. FBI spokeswoman Sandra Breault in Las Vegas also declined to comment.

A preliminary report released by Lombardo in January said Paddock meticulously schemed the attack and scouted potential targets in at the least four cities where he rented rooms in buildings overlooking outdoor concerts.

Police reported discovering thousands of rounds of ammunition and dozens of firearms in Paddock’s hotel rooms and his homes in southern and northern Nevada. Documents say about 100 pounds( 45.4 kilograms) of explosive material was may be in his vehicle parked at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas.

Paddock’s girlfriend, Marilou Danley, who was in the Philippines at the time of the shooting, described to investigators relationship difficulties with the 64 -year-old retired accountant, millionaire real estate investor and high-stakes gambler.

Lombardo said it appeared Paddock was on a lottery losing streak, and police reported finding only $273 in cash in his hotel room.

Danley acknowledged to the FBI that she helped Paddock load high-volume ammo magazines that the police officers have said he later used in the two attacks. She has not been charged with a crime.

An Arizona man faces a federal charge alleging that he illegal armor-piercing ammunition that authorities found in Paddock’s hotel suite.

Douglas Haig has pleaded not guilty. He preserves he legally sold Paddock tracer ammunition that illuminates the road of fired bullets.